The European Commission's Executive Vice-President for a Europe fit for the Digital Age and Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, stated this Thursday at the Forum Europa in Brussels that "we should not be afraid of Chinese and American strategies because Europe is complying with its model".
At this event organised by the New Economy Forum in the EU capital, Vestager admitted that the European Commission's system "makes everything a little longer" but argued that "it gives us better access to education and health than any other continent".
She went on to say that "with all the things that need to be improved, we have the best environment and the cleanest air compared to any other continent and although everything is not perfect we are still the most equal on the planet".
Therefore, she concluded that "I don't think we should try to be Chinese because I think we would be miserable Chinese. We would not be good at that".
She added that she does not see it possible "to be like the Americans if that would be attractive", a country that "is good as a partner but maybe it's good that there is that Atlantic Ocean to separate us".
In conclusion, she said that "it is really important to regain trust, to remember that our model has delivered amazing results so far and that we have to use that model, renew that model, rely on that model to deliver in the future as well".
"We have to continue to meet the expectations of the people who live here because that is the fundamental promise of the European Union", Vestager said, calling for "a willingness to work together and to find compromises together and to implement those compromises together".
